


Shards: The Third

by taichara



Series: Scattered Silver [3]
Category: Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV - Free Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drabble Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-14 00:45:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16029503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: A collection of five drabbles, for Table Three ofLuxken27's Summer Challenge 2018.





	1. Multiplicity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories jolt; the present jolts Rosa even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "mint"

Completely incongruous, that scent; sweet, cool, bringing memories of a childhood playing in the gardens around Baron and an adolescence learning the uses of herbals. It didn't belong here, now, in a Baron controlled by darkness.

The monster that was their beloved king should not be in a tavern drinking mint tea!

Worse than that, how could Cecil be with him -- sitting there like a silvered guard dog -- when Cecil stood beside her that very moment?

Rosa heard Cecil's hoarse whisper -- and it _was_ like the apparition in Mist all over again -- and then there was no time to wonder --


	2. Tailspinning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you're too shocked to even feel the betrayal yet --

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "rig"

She should have known the moment the king sent her off in a ship of her own, and Cecil of all people as support. 

Deliver a 'package' to Mist, indeed.

The elemental creatures blocking the Mist Pass were ... odd. But something normally to be put out of mind.

Rosa clung to the Enterprise's rail and made herself watch Mist smoulder. What they did, however unwitting, was unforgivable. An entire village of innocents ...

... and a doppleganger that threw a fifth elemental beast at them, apparently out of rage and grief.

Now Cecil was belowdecks, shaken to his core.

What was happening ...?


	3. Directions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group debates branching paths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "actually"

"We've got other options, you know that right?"

Edge's slow drawl prompted a tired lift of brows from Rosa but nothing else, so he chose to take that as encouragement. Besides, he had a point to make.

"Yeah, we've got options even if nothing's making any sense. I found one answer up here on this stupid mountain and Cecil's got the scunge cleaned out of him, so it looks -- to me -- like the next step is dealing with my kingdom or whatever's eating yours.

"But don't take my word for it, hey?"

Cecil spoke softly, before Rosa could.

"Kaipo first."


	4. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tellah has his own places to go, and people to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "young"

_Perhaps I should not be leaving her and her companions to unravel this mystery ..._

Just a prickle of worry; but it was enough to make Tellah pause in the doorway a second time, hand on the latch. With so many questions unanswered and their ill childhood friend only now recovering, wouldn't his spells be of use ...?

_No, old fool. You have your own questions, and you can't be dragging them along in the process._

Anna ... he needed to see where Yang had stayed for her last breaths, where they laid her to rest. 

And then he'd find the _other_ one.


	5. Midnight Musing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kain takes a few moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Prompt:_ "think"

Night travel was surprisingly soothing; Kain stood on the deck, unarmoured, and let the breeze lift his hair a little. Standing well away from the railing, of course, because he didn't trust himself just yet. reflexes were still dulled, muscles not quite what they should be ...

... and what if they never will be, came the whisper in the back of his mind. What if you've been broken by the desert and its fevers, because of --

_That couldn't be Cecil. I know that. He's here on the Enterprise and he always has been._

\-- But it was also Cecil in Baron.

Twice.


End file.
